At Mercedes, they have confidence in Nyck de Vries that he won’t spill any internal Mercedes secrets with his move to AlphaTauri
Nyck de Vries will be given a regular cockpit at AlphaTauri for the 2023 Formula One season, it was announced during the race weekend in Japan. A sister team to Red Bull, the move ironically sees him move to one of Mercedes’ main rivals, where he is currently still under contract as a reserve driver and won the 2021 Formula E championship with the carmaker.
Despite his inclusion in the Red Bull driver squad, de Vries will get one more practice session in the Mercedes this season, as was originally planned. It is understood that he will take the wheel from George Russell in the first practice session in Mexico, having already been in action for Lewis Hamilton in France.
Although de Vries made his Formula One debut with Williams at Monza, his practice outing for Mercedes will still count as a rookie test, as rookie status only expires after more than two Grand Prix appearances. However, with the switch to AlphaTauri, it is certain that the Dutchman will not complete the tyre test for Mercedes after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes: “Too bad where Nyck is going “
Mike Elliott, Mercedes technical director, is pleased that de Vries has been given a regular Formula 1 cockpit, although he is not too excited about the team choice. “I’m really pleased for Nyck that he’s been given this opportunity. Maybe it’s a shame where he’s going, but that’s the way it is.”
“I think he deserves the chance. He’s shown he’s a very good driver and to have him in the garage was great. He’s a really nice guy who is very committed and understands the car,” Elliott praised the Dutchman.
With the move to the Red Bull camp, de Vries’ activities in Japan and Singapore at Mercedes have already been scaled back somewhat. While the announcement of his cockpit was the main focus in Suzuka, the 27-year-old was also absent from the Mercedes meetings in Singapore.
Elliott is also banking on de Vries’ confidence not to divulge any internal Mercedes information to the competition. “I think we have confidence in him that we can put him in the car, that we can do tests with him and that we can trust him not to pay attention to the things we don’t want him to pay attention to and I think he’ll do a good job. “
Elliott: What de Vries could take from his Mercedes days
Mercedes also doesn’t think that all the simulator hours in Mercedes cars will be of much help to de Vries, given that he has focused mainly on Formula E for one thing and that development is moving so fast.
Elliott explains: “He has already done quite a bit. Of course, he has also raced in Formula E, which takes up a lot of his time. And Formula 1 is changing so fast and the pace of learning is so fast that what he did a year ago is probably not particularly helpful for him.”
“I think what he could take away from here is the way we work together, our processes and our systems. But as I said, we wish him the best of luck. I think he’s been very honourable in his dealings with us, so we have no concerns. “
